The Washington Post – There’s an international competition

There’s an international competition for iPhone photography, and these incredible images won

A new book out this month by the photographer Harvey Wang studies the profound ways that digital cameras changed photography. No offense to Harvey, but he may be a bit behind: A new wave of pro photographers have picked up their iPhones — and dropped their cameras entirely.

That, at least, can be inferred from the eighth annual iPhone Photography Awards, whose 2015 winners were announced today. The informal global contest has always attracted a swarm of amateur shutterbugs, but this year, some pros also got in on the game.

Two of the top three winners are pro photographers; of the thousands of people who entered, from more than 120 countries, a larger share than usual were professionals.

“The quality of the entries are getting increasingly better,” said Kenan Aktulun, the contest’s founder. “[I’m] not sure if iPhone users are getting better or more professional photographers are adapting iPhone. Probably both.”

In the past year, iPhone editing apps have certainly begun adapting to the needs of pro photographers, despite the historical friction between photogs and their phones. VSCO Cam, the newly trendy, four-year-old editing app, signed on dozens of pro designers, photographers and other creatives this year, earning itself a coveted New York Times Style profile. Snapseed, a sophisticated editing tool from Google, underwent a major, long-awaited update in April: With it, the company promised “the precision and control of professional photo editing software on your phone or tablet.”

Even Instagram, the photo-sharing platform of the filter-happy masses, added a range of advanced editing tools last June, all intended to lure in serious photographers. The approach seems to have worked: Instagram’s most popular non-celebrity account belongs to National Geographic — with a whopping 22.1 million followers.

If you think your personal Instagram game can compete, the IPP Awards are already accepting submissions for 2016: Your photo must be taken on an iPad, iPod or iPhone and can be edited in an iPhone app — but it can’t undergo any desktop processing. In the meantime, check out some of the winners below. All of the winning images and honorable mentions are also available on IPPA’s Web site.